Matthew Vaughn Set to Helm 'Thor'

Although he made his Marvel Comics debut in 1962, (The Mighty) Thor has been around for quite some time. In Norse and German mythology, Thor is the god of thunder ... and war. I'm sorry, but that alone makes him cooler than Superman. Say what you will about good ol' Kal-El -- but he's not exactly a GOD, now is he? Would a god run screaming from a glowing green meteorite? No ,I think not. Plus Thor has this awesome giant hammer called Mjolnir that spits lightning and returns to its owner when thrown at an evildoer. Yeah, Thor! Whack those villains with your gigantic hammer! (But remember the PG-13 rating.)

Oh, and Marvel finally decided who'll be directing their big-screen adaptation of The Mighty Thor. According to Variety, it'll be Matthew Vaughn, director of Layer Cake and Stardust, and producer of Guy Ritchie's only two goodmovies. Comics fans will no doubt remember Mr. Vaughn as the man who was supposed to helm X-Men: The Last Stand, but bailed on the project (probably wisely) for personal reasons.

Marvel and Vaughn will be working from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich, and our source indicates that the studio might want to get the project rolling before the end of the year -- what with that black cloud of a Hollywood strike looming on the horizon. If Thor turns out to be anything like Marvel's current projects (The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man) then we can expect a whole bunch of nifty casting announcements to hit the scene soon. But for now I ask our readers: Who would YOU hire to play the massive blonde hero-god?